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Twitter SMS commands

You can perform certain actions, like following a user or marking a friend's update as a favorite, by using the designated Twitter commands below.

When using these commands, do not append an @ symbol along with the command text. If you send these commands with an @ symbol, your commands will be read as a username and will not be executed as expected.

Example: If you want to turn on device notifications, send only "ON" and not "@ON."

Turning mobile Twitter updates OFF and ON:

ON: turns ALL your authorized Twitter updates and notifications on.

OFF: turns ALL phone notifications off.

ON [username]: turns on notifications for a specific person on your phone. Example: ON alissa

OFF [username]: turns off notifications for a specific person on your phone. Example: OFF blaine

FOLLOW [username]: allows you to start following a specific user, as well as receive SMS notifications. Example: FOLLOW jerry, or F jerry, for short.

UNFOLLOW [username]: allows you to stop following a specific user.

LEAVE [username]: this command allows you to stop receiving SMS notifications for a specific user without having to unfollow them. When you log into twitter.com from the web you will still see this user's updates in your timeline. Example: LEAVE benfu, or L benfu, for short.

STOP, QUIT, END, CANCEL, UNSUBSCRIBE, or ARRET: will deactivate your account if you are an SMS-only user. If you completed the sign-up flow on the web, sending any of these commands to your Twitter short code will simply remove your phone number from your Twitter account.

Fun stuff – friends, favorites, and stats:

Use the commands below to send direct messages, mark Tweets as favorites, and more.

@[username] + message - shows your Tweet as a reply directed at another person, and causes your Tweet to save in their mentions tab. Example: @meangrape I love that song too!

D [username] + message - sends that person a Direct Message that goes to their device, and saves in their web archive.

You can also use M [username] + message to send a private message!

Examples: d krissy want to pick a Jamba Juice for me while you're there? or m krissy wanna pick up a Jamba Juice for me while you're there? performs the same action.

Note about DM fails: Your service provider may split SMS messages greater than 160 characters into multiple messages. In this case, the second message will post as a normal Tweet because it doesn't begin with d+username, as the first message did. Please be careful to ensure that your messages are under 160 characters.

SET PROFILE [image] - allows you to upload a profile photo to your account, so it's viewable on the web. Just text the command along with the desired image from your phone's photo library. Note: this is only available for users whose mobile carriers support MMS.

SET LANGUAGE [language name] - selects the language you'd like to receive notifications in. Example: set language German

SET NAME [name here] - sets the name field on your Twitter profile. Example: set name Jane Doe

WHOIS [username] - retrieves the profile information for any public user on Twitter. Example: whois jack or w jack, for short.

GET [username] - retrieves the latest Twitter update posted by that person. You can also use g [username] to get a user's latest Tweet. Examples: get goldman or g goldman.

FAV [username] - marks that user's last Tweet as one of your favorites (reply to any update with FAV, FAVE, FAVORITE, FAVOURITE, or * to mark it as a favorite if you're receiving it in real time). Examples: fav crystal, fave crystal, favorite crystal, or *crystal

STATS [username] - this command returns the given user's number of followers, how many people they're following, and their bio information.

SUGGEST, SUG, S, or WTF - this command returns a list of Twitter users we think you might find interesting and would like to follow.

SET DISCOVER ON - by using this command, you opt-in to receive SMS notifications for top Tweets related to your interests. Please know that this feature is automatically enabled for all Twitter via SMS users. Note: this feature is only available in certain locations.

SET DISCOVER OFF - turns off delivery of top tweets to your device.

A few notes on SMS commands:

Using ON/OFF [username] from your phone only stops notifications coming to your mobile phone; you'll still collect a person's updates on the web since you're still following them.

Use UNFOLLOW [username] to unfollow a user via SMS.

Use BLOCK [username] or BLK [username] to block a user via SMS.

You can also use UNBLOCK [username] or UNBLK [username]

Use REPORT [username] or REP [username] to report a user as spam.

The following commands perform the same actions: FOLLOW = ON. And LEAVE = OFF.

Following someone from a phone for the first time will also cause you to follow them on the web.

You don't have to use ON/OFF [username] from your phone, you can also set individual notifications from a person's profile page on the web, or check your following page and manage all phone notification settings there.